Iberian Peninsula to the indus

balag
). of course, the paucity of indus instruments creates concerns, but the 
similarity to the 
balag
-sign in mesopotamia creates some assurance. Several earlier 
scholars have also proposed it is an indus harp.
Generally,
the indus script was used 
during the “mature harappan period” and we consider it an indus harp limited to 
that period. there are no musical instruments after 1900 Bc. 
in conclusion, we know the shape of harps in the cultures examined here: indus, 
oxus, elam, mesopotamia, egypt and the mediterranean. in many cases, information is 
documented from 2500 to 1500 Bc. in the earliest phase, before ca. 2000 Bc, harps were 
arched. Between 1900 and 1600 Bc arched harps were replaced by angular ones. the 
near east and egypt adopted angular harps at different rates, and this fact may imply 
that egyptian music was more conservative than that of its near eastern neighbours. 
the angular harp had many more strings than the earlier arched shape, and it is 
tempting to give it musical significance. But, since we don’t know the music, further 
thoughts will be mostly speculation. this arched/angular transformation occurred 
universally and is an intercultural phenomenon. even when we have no tunes, as 
here, the study of ancient instruments may lead to insights that add to a preliminary 
music history of the five cultures during the forth to second millennia Bc. 
L.B.
1
the dates are the “conventional” ones given by roaf 
(1990, pp. 110–111), but the absolute dates are still 
under discussion.
2
homer 1996, p. 437, lines 451–460.
3
to evaluate the number of strings, one needs extant 
instruments, which are mostly available in egypt be-
cause the dry sand prevented wood decay. representa-
tions rarely give accurate string counts.
4
i am indebted to dr robert K. englund for checking 
balag
signs on tablets in Atu (= 
Archaiche Texte aus 
Uruk
).
5
delougaz and Kantor 1996, pp. 147–148; field num-
ber iii-913a-e from square Q18. dr A. Alizadeh (private 
comm.) considers it an image of a jar rather than a fish, 
cf. 
ibid
., p. 147, no. 68. 
6
the narrow ends were cut open, allowing the player 
to blow the horn.
7
lawergren 2018. Vertical harps are shown with 24, 
24 and 29 strings; horizontal ones with 8, 9 and 10.
Bibliography
: plato ed. 1926; homer ed. 1996, pp. 
451–460; marshall 1931; Woolley 1934, p. 62; Gelb 
1952, p. 62; rashid 1984, pp. 52–88; lawergren, Gur-
ney 1987, pp. 37–52; flora 1988, p. 215; roaf 1990, 
pp. 110–111; Auerbach 1994, p. 380, fig. 16a; delou-
gaz, Kantor 1996; parpola 1996, pp. 165–171; Kenoyer 
1998, pp. 69–79; farmer, henderson, Witzel 2000, p. 
80; possehl 2002, pp. 127–139; Glassner 2003, p. 122; 
Wright 2010, p. 163; emerit, Guichard, Jeammet, per-
rot, thomas, Vendries, Vincent, Ziegler 2017, p. 105; 
lawergren 2018, pp. 41–118.

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A Journey 
throuGh 
time And SpAce

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61
60
IBERIA

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63
62
the eye WAS in the tomB
And WAS looKinG
plaque idol
Iberian peninsula, Vega de Guadancil, 
Garrovillas de Alconétar, Cáceres 
Chalcolithic period (IV millennium BC) 
Museo Arqueológico Nacional, 
Madrid, inv. 358
(cat. 3, detail)
“the eye was in the tomb and was looking . . . ”
L´œil était dans la tombe et regardait …
Victor hugo,